INSIDE THE BEARS.

Bears Eying Kickers, But Not Quarterbacks

August 25, 1999|By John Mullin, Tribune Staff Writer.

The Bears hope kicker Jeff Jaeger will recover from an ongoing hip injury in time for the regular season. But they are looking at options.

Former Northwestern kicker Brian Goins, whom the Detroit Lions waived Aug. 17, and Arena League kicker Don Silvestri will be in for tryouts Wednesday. The Bears also are keeping watch on kickers currently in training-camp competitions: Chris Jacke vs. Joe Nedney in Arizona and Cary Blanchard vs. Jeff Hall in Washington.

But the Bears are not seeking veteran quarterback insurance despite their situation under center. Shane Matthews has not played well in two of his three outings, Cade McNown cannot beat out Matthews at this point and Jim Miller and Moses Moreno, who will play Saturday's fourth quarter, have been relegated to battling for the No. 3 spot.

The Bears passed on one opportunity to settle their quarterback dilemma and now will have a chance now to see a veteran-star rookie tandem up close. The Bears were deep in trade talks last March with the San Francisco 49ers for backup Ty Detmer but were unwilling to give up more than a sixth-round draft pick. The Browns stepped up with a fourth-rounder and a switch of fifth-round picks to acquire the veteran who will start until their first-round pick, Tim Couch, is ready.

Rookie mistake: Defensive end Clyde Simmons has seen 13 years worth of rookie quarterbacks, from Troy Aikman on. They all made mistakes but most had one rookie fault in common:

"Expecting too much of themselves," Simmons said, describing a characteristic McNown has shown but which Simmons hopes McNown will stop. "We're good enough around him on offense that if he comes and does his job, we're going to be fine. He has to be himself and not try to be Superman."

Rostering: The Bears claimed defensive end/tackle Shane Burton, a three-year veteran whom the Miami Dolphins waived after playing 15 games last season. Burton is 6 feet 6 inches, 305 pounds and has started at right and left end. He was Miami's fifth-round pick in 1996 and started 12 games with nine sacks over the last three years..

Banged up: It was a rough day for former UCLA players Tuesday. McNown jammed his right hand on a botched handoff and backup right tackle Chad Overhauser went down with what appeared to be a severe hamstring injury after a teammate fell across his outstretched leg in a pileup.